"Someone that believes their success was almost entirely due to luck rather than merit and that has been extensively discussed in the media is very likely to struggle with fears and anxieties about being exposed," Cilona said.

"These kinds of fears and anxieties can become crippling, and ironically can create a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure and undermining confidence and impacting the ability to take action and perform effectively."

Criticisms and negative opinions are likely to sting more if someone believes their success was influenced more by luck than merit, Cilona said.

However, it's important to note that different people would handle the situation in different ways.

"The degree to which someone may be affected by having their competency and talent questioned typically relates to their own confidence level and what they believe about their abilities and success," Cilona said.

"Those who have genuine self-confidence and belief in their talent and competence will not be as impacted (positively or negatively) by external validation or criticism," he added.

What should be reassuring for Paulson is 90% of his investors (in two of his funds -- not Advantage or Advantage Plus. We're still waiting on those redemption numbers.) still believe in him. Only 10% of his hedge fund's clients redeemed their money from Paulson's $15 billion Credit Opportunity and Recovery funds at the end of September.